This invention relates generally to the field of computerized problem solving and in particular to a system and method for problem partitioning for the solution of complex problems in real time.
In certain control system applications, there exists a significant need for systems which can provide satisfactory decisions in critically time-constrained situations for complex systems having subsystems consisting of many networked sensors and actuators, with each subsystem having control, monitoring and fault diagnosis capabilities. Advances in hardware technology, such as inexpensive processors, low-cost micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) actuators and sensors, and decreasing communication costs, result in systems with unprecedented reconfigurability, flexibility, and robustness. However, networked embedded applications require decision system technology that combines distributed constraint optimization methods with complexity analysis and learning techniques.
Decision systems for such applications have not kept pace with hardware development. Traditionally, decision systems have utilized special-purpose computer programs dedicated to a single task. In various more recent systems, decision systems have utilized model-based computer programs using generic constraint solving (finding a solution to a constraint problem) techniques executed on a single, high-end processor. For example, a simple constraint problem is “determining a roller velocity (desired solution) such that a sheet in a printing system arrives at the next registration station at the desired time (the objective) and the velocity does not exceed the roller's velocity limit (constraint).” An example of distributed embedded software is control software, such as software that controls a machine's functions and runs on multiple networked processors within a machine, instead of a single PC or work station. Embedded applications, such as machine control, usually deal with complex constraint problems that have to be solved within tight real-time constraints, while embedded processors usually have strong resource limitations, such as a slow central processing unit with limited memory.
Constrained optimization is at the core of many embedded applications. In applications such as planning, scheduling, control, and diagnosis, it is necessary to generate timely and accurate solutions such as operational plans, control inputs, fault hypotheses, and recovery actions. The common task in these applications is to repeatedly find a solution for a given objective, a solution that is achievable within or consistent with the system's constraints. Today, such applications are typically hand-coded programs based on an extensive analysis of a fixed configuration and task of the system. However, in order to provide dynamic reconfiguration and fault-tolerant behavior for future networked embedded systems, as is often required in military applications, many synthesis operations must become part of the software's real-time operations. Although the invention described herein is not limited to military applications, the following discussion will pertain to a military situation for purposes of example only.
For example, military hardware often outlasts the usefulness of its technology. To address this issue, it is desirable to upgrade and repurpose existing systems for new tasks instead of investing in new hardware. An unmanned underwater vehicle, for example, is potentially a multi-purpose undersea platform for weapons deployment, reconnaissance missions, mine sweeping, rescue operations, etc. However, upgrading or repurposing such a vessel with new types of subsystems (weapons, sensors, mine-clearing or rescue equipment) is difficult, as the software has to coordinate and control interactions that are strongly dependent on the type, role, and original configuration of the equipment. Detecting and catching a mine, for example, requires taking into account the constraints of sensors, robotic arms, and propulsion, and the resulting constraint problems can be complex. The constraint problem to be solved repeatedly by the robot controller, for instance, may involve hundreds of nonlinear range, torque, and collision constraints for a modular manipulator, with multiple objectives such as reaching the target while conserving energy and minimizing motor noise. Today, such problems cannot be solved in real-time by existing techniques on embedded processors.
The second example is coordination of a large number of distributed embedded subsystems. For instance, the increasing number of hydrophonic sensors (on the order of 30,000 in a missile launcher-class submarine) used by sonars like Flank Arrays involves complex parallel architectures. Dynamically mapping and optimally reconfiguring huge data arrays, intensive workload, and data flows are known to be highly compute-intensive problems. Solutions must fit spatial constraints like processing units, memory organization and size, communication bandwidth, and data/computation locality, as well as temporal properties such as response times and latencies.
A final example is the distributed, fault-tolerant coordination of multiple vehicles. There are many applications that require the use of on-board solving services, from mission planning to optimal vehicle control. For instance, consider a set of aircraft formations autonomously performing a long-term mission behind the forward-edge battle area. Each formation leader performs the tactical (long-range) commanding of the formation, satisfying interoperability and coordination constraints, while all aircraft perform short-term self-control. Today, tasks such as planning, scheduling, and coordination are essentially performed before the mission. They consist of the generation of position-time trajectories according to mission objectives, specific navigation points, hostile and tactical environment constraints, and data correlation requirements. By solving these tasks dynamically and reactively to environment changes and mission updates, again using model-based techniques, the formation's availability and flexibility could be increased dramatically. This requires that the solvers distributed among the vehicles have the capability to adapt to a variety of objectives (mission goal, rules of engagement, detection avoidance, aircraft interaction, etc.), and that they are able to reconfigure themselves if individual aircraft exhibit reduced capabilities or even are disabled under enemy fire.
One approach that may provide a solution for generating robust reconfigurable software is model-based computing, which involves the explicit representation of and reasoning about a system's capabilities, constraints, and objectives at run-time. Because the system model is separated from task-specific algorithms, it can be changed as the system changes, making applications configuration-independent and fault-tolerant. Employing model-based computing on embedded software networks requires constraint solvers specifically optimized for such networks. The constraint problems to be solved arise from physical systems and thus are nearly always are large, hybrid (discrete and continuous), and nonlinear. No single solver algorithm can be expected to be suited for all problems. Instead, solvers have to be able to determine the characteristics of a problem and adapt accordingly. Moreover, solvers have to be able to scale to large problems, which typically means approximating or decomposing problems into subproblems.
Applications running on networked embedded systems present constraint solvers with complex constraint problems that cannot be anticipated off-line. At the same time, constraint solvers must execute within stringent resource limitations in an inherently distributed computing environment. Resorting to anytime algorithms to address real-time requirements, for example, is not sufficient to provide acceptable time-bounded solutions. Real-time application software requires on-line, time-bounded solver execution on processor networks with limited computational capabilities, memory, and communication bandwidth. The solvers must conserve resources and proactively allocate their tasks in a way that effectively utilizes the distributed resources of an embedded network within the allotted time. As a service, a solver should also be both application-independent and customizable to the environment. Thus, there is a need for an approach in which constraint solvers are capable of analyzing, learning from, and ultimately adapting to the presented problems.
There have been various approaches in problem solving techniques, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,731 to Trif et al. titled “Adaptive Problem Solving Method and System,” which teaches a problem solving method including retrieving a question from a storage device, outputting the question to an output device, receiving an answer from the user, assigning a fuzzy logic coefficient to the answer, and accessing a learning route authority from the storage device to determine the identity of a subsequent question. Answers to questions are learned through user-provided evaluations in a system that is not designed for autonomous, real-time use.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,088,690 to Gounares et al. titled “Method and Apparatus for Adaptively Solving Sequential Problems in a Target System Utilizing Evolutionary Computation Techniques” discloses a system in which chromosomes are applied to a target system one action at a time and the change in properties of the target system is measured after each action is applied. A fitness rating is calculated for each chromosome based on the property changes produced in the target system by the chromosome. The fitness rating calculation is defined so that successive generations of chromosomes will converge upon desired characteristics. This approach is not based on problem analysis and again is not for real-time use.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,144,953 to Sorrells et al. titled “Time-Constrained Inference Strategy for Real-Time Expert Systems” teaches a control process and an inference network which assign merit values to each inference node of the inference network. The merit values reflect the processing cost of expanding a node to calculate a likelihood value for the proposition that the node represents. The merit values are then used in the control process to determine which of the nodes will be processed first to calculate likelihood values. This establishes a “best-first” control process, which takes account of the processing cost of each node in the inference network to determine which nodes to evaluate first. However, this approach does not provide the capability of learning from, analyzing and adapting to presented problems.